Scrasamax:
Before the Cosmic Era was it's own region on the citadel it was really brought to life under the idea of making a card type game to play in the bar while the non-nerd wives and GFs did their thing at the model horse convention. That eventually fell by the wayside, but it's crept back up again.

I see playing out battles in the Cosmic Era on a hex map, somewhere between Settlers of Catan and Battletech. Build arcos, claim ruined cities, establish resource gathering efforts, transportation grids, etc while developing and deploying upgradable military style units.